Summer is coming, and with all the fresh & delicious vegetables out there, there’s no excuse for missing out on your five serves per day!
Now, we love salads and they can be a great way to get a range of veggies into your diet, they’re not for everyone and even if they are, it’s good to change things up every now & then.
We’ve come up with our top 5 ways to eat more veggies that don’t include a salad, but are still great for lunch at work, dinner with the family, or for those nights where you want something quick & easy.
Loaded On Nachos
Nothing beats nachos with a cold drink on a hot day. They’re a fast & easy meal that is super easy to load up with vegetables!
For our nachos, we recommend grabbing a baking dish, layering white corn tortilla chips with our Chipotle Chicken and a sprinkling of cheese throughout, then baking it in the oven until the cheese is melted.
To serve, load them up with some shredded lettuce, fresh diced tomatoes or salsa, guacamole & light sour cream. Nachos in less than 20 minutes? Yes please.
Tucked in Burritos
Another Mexican inspired staple that is always fresh & full of flavour. Burritos are great because you can make them whatever you want them to be & everyone can customise theirs to suit them. That means no stress about your gluten free, dairy free or vegetarian friends. Just lay out the pieces & let them assemble their own.
We recommend going for a burrito mix that is packed with veggies like beans & tomatoes.
We LOVE burritos, so we have a few options on hand so you don’t need to stress about catering to those with dietary concerns, our burrito mixes make it super easy!
Our Chilli con Carne is great for big flavour and heaps of veggies fast with beans, tomatoes, peas, carrots & corn in each.
To build to ultimate burrito, start with a warm tortilla, add your burrito mix of choice then layer up with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, light sour cream & avocado. Wrap it up & you’re ready to eat!
Blended in Smoothies
As the weather warms up, we’ll be getting right back into smoothies for brekky or snacks. While we’d generally reach for the berries and other summer fruits first, smoothies are a great way to get some extra veggies into your diet without compromising on flavour.
If you love making your own at home, then including veggies will they count towards your 2 & 5, but they’ll boost the nutrient and fibre content of your smoothies.
Here are our fave veggies that we love adding to smoothies:
Spinach – Add a handful to smoothies that have pineapple, banana, or strawberries. It’s an iron boost, and is nutrient dense.
Kale – this nutrient powerhouse is a great addition to smoothies, but keep in mind that it does have a strong flavour that goes well with other strong flavours like pineapple.
Avocado – on the other end of the green scale, avocados contain omega-3 fatty acids (and a pretty delicious too). They add a creaminess to smoothies that is subtle in flavour & goes well with everything from berries & banana to more vegetables.
Layered in Lasagne
Yes, you read that right – lasagne! Think pasta layered with vegetables, a rich tomato sugo & a ricotta & spinach blend.
There are so many options when it comes to what you can include in a vegetable lasagne – we recommend going with firm vegetables that roast well so that your lasagne is moist but not soggy.
Lasagnes often take a couple of hours to make, so if you’re doing it, choose a weekend when you’ve got the time and freeze any left overs. OR we can do the work for you & all you have to do is eat & enjoy..
Loaded on Pizza
When you make pizza yourself there’s more opportunity to get big flavour while keeping the balance. Loading up with veggies like pumpkin, capsicum, spinach, red onions, mushrooms
We recommend going for a wholemeal pizza base or if you want to take your veggie boost to the next level, the try a cauliflower pizza base.
When making your own pizza, buy whole veggies & cut them so that their cooking time will be similar to each other, and for hard veggies like pumpkin & sweet potato, try par-boiling or roasting them before adding to your pizza.
See? There are more ways than salad to get veggies into your diet in a delicious way for summer whether you don’t have dietary preferences, are flexitarian or vegan. The great thing about going big with your veggies is that they provide so much nutritional value and flavour, that you often don’t need to overload on sauces, cheese or go too hard on seasoning with things like salt. With a bit of creativity, you can take humble veggies and turn them into exciting meals for spring & summer.
